Saving Seafood

EU says Brexit deal still ‘metres from the finish line’

November 20, 2020 — The European Union and Britain have made better progress towards a trade deal in the last few days but there is still a lot of work to do for an agreement to be in place by the end-year deadline, the bloc’s chief executive said on Friday.

Diplomats briefed earlier by the EU’s executive, which is negotiating with Britain on behalf of the 27 member states, said Brussels and London remained at odds over fishing rights, fair competition guarantees and ways to solve future disputes.

However, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen sounded a more optimistic note on the last-ditch talks at a news conference, pointing to progress on the question of ensuring a level playing field for state aid.

“After difficult weeks with very, very slow progress, now we’ve seen in the last days better progress, more movement on important files. This is good,” she said.

Read the full story at Reuters

EU “regretably” introduces new tariffs on US goods – but most seafood is exempt

November 10, 2020 — The European Union has imposed countermeasures against many exports from the United States that it was awarded by the World Trade Organization (WTO) in lieu of illegal U.S. subsidies granted to aircraft-maker Boeing.

With the countermeasures agreed by E.U. member-states, the European Commission’s regulation increasing tariffs on U.S. exports into the E.U. worth USD 4 billion (EUR 3.4 billion) will be published in the Official Journal of the E.U.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Joint Statement of the United States and the European Union on a Tariff Agreement

August 21, 2020 — The following was released by the Office of the United States Trade Representative:

United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and European Union Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan today announced agreement on a package of tariff reductions that will increase market access for hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. and EU exports.  These tariff reductions are the first U.S.-EU negotiated reductions in duties in more than two decades.

Under the agreement, the EU will eliminate tariffs on imports of U.S. live and frozen lobster products.  U.S. exports of these products to the EU were over $111 million in 2017.  The EU will eliminate these tariffs on a Most Favored Nation (MFN) basis, retroactive to begin August 1, 2020.  The EU tariffs will be eliminated for a period of five years and the European Commission will promptly initiate procedures aimed at making the tariff changes permanent.  The United States will reduce by 50% its tariff rates on certain products exported by the EU worth an average annual trade value of $160 million, including certain prepared meals, certain crystal glassware, surface preparations, propellant powders, cigarette lighters and lighter parts.  The U.S. tariff reductions will also be made on an MFN basis and retroactive to begin August 1, 2020.

“As part of improving EU-US relations, this mutually beneficial agreement will bring positive results to the economies of both the United States and the European Union.  We intend for this package of tariff reductions to mark just the beginning of a process that will lead to additional agreements that create more free, fair, and reciprocal transatlantic trade,” said Ambassador Lighthizer and Commissioner Hogan.

Timeline on Negotiations:

In 2019, at the direction of President Donald J. Trump, the United States completed formal procedures necessary to launch negotiations on a trade agreement, as did the European Commission.

In September 2018, as required by the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015, Ambassador Lighthizer consulted with members of Congress on the Trump Administration’s interest in launching trade negotiations with the EU.  On October 16, 2018, the Office of the United States Trade Representative officially notified Congress that President Trump intended to launch trade negotiations with the EU.  On January 11, 2019, following consultations with Congress and public comment period from U.S. stakeholders, the Trump Administration issued formal U.S. negotiating objectives for the EU.

The agreement being announced today arose out of continuing engagement with the EU on these issues.

EU ready to ease fisheries demands in Brexit talks: sources

May 27, 2020 — The EU is willing to shift its stance on fisheries in negotiations with Britain next week, sources said, in what would be the first major concession from the bloc in talks on their new relationship after Brexit.

Fishing is particularly politically sensitive for France, and the 27-nation bloc says it would not seal a new trade deal with Britain without a stable agreement on that issue.

Currently, fishing mostly takes place in UK waters but most of the catch goes to European Union fishermen.

Britain wants to unwind that after Brexit materialises at the start of next year, saying that, as a newly independent coastal state, it wants to be in control of its waters and fish.

But the EU has so far sought to maintain the status quo, a demand an official with the bloc suggested was a primarily starting point for negotiations.

Read the full story at Reuters

New emergency funding offered for EU’s coronavirus-hit seafood industry

April 3, 2020 — A new set of measures designed to help the European Union’s fisheries and aquaculture sectors deal with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been proposed by the European Commission through the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF).

With fishers forced to stay in port and fish farmers facing the prospect of having to dispose of unused products, the E.C. said the new measures could provide immediate aid during the coronavirus crisis.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

EU opens door for coronavirus-hit seafood operations to receive aid

March 24, 2020 — Acknowledging that fishing and aquaculture have been “among the hardest hit” sectors by the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, the European Commission has introduced a temporary state aid framework that enables E.U. member states to provide financial support to affected operators.

Seafood demand across the bloc has declined dramatically in recent weeks as retailers, restaurants, canteens, and other large-scale buyers have been reducing or temporarily closing down their activities. At the same time, supply chains have been affected by various logistical disruptions.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Aquaculture Advisory Council gives second recommendations for developing EU aquaculture

January 28, 2020 — The Aquaculture Advisory Council (AAC), which is partially funded by the European Union, has released its second recommendations on how to bolster sustainable aquaculture in the E.U.

The recommendations come as the European Commission is planning to draft new guidelines for sustainable aquaculture development in 2020. That new draft is in the wake of multiple other reports that showcased the lack of growth in E.U. aquaculture.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

EU warns refusal to give access to UK fishing waters after Brexit could lead to new cod war

January 9, 2020 — Failure to grant the European Union access to British fishing waters after Brexit could lead to an outbreak of cod war style hostilities, the EU has warned.

Brussels is demanding continued access to British waters as a condition of the trade deal but Boris Johnson has warned the European Commission that Britain will take back control of its waters once Britain leaves the EU.

“We want to avoid any fisheries skirmishes in the Atlantic. We have seen them before we don’t want to see them again,” Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said at a press conference with Charles Michel, the European Council president in Zagreb

Read the full story at The Telegraph

Brussels enacts emergency ban to protect Baltic cod

July 24, 2019 — Emergency measures to save the ailing eastern Baltic cod stock from impending collapse have been announced by the European Commission. With immediate effect, commercial fishing for cod is banned in most of the Baltic Sea until 31 December, 2019.

The ban covers all fishing vessels and applies in all those areas of the Baltic Sea where the largest part of the stock is present, namely subdivisions 24-26, except for some specific targeted derogations.

It follows measures that have already been taken by some European Union member states, but given that these measures have not ensured a uniform approach in all areas where the eastern Baltic cod stock is found, and that not all member states intended to adopt national measures, the Commission decided that further emergency action was warranted.

“The impact of this cod stock collapsing would be catastrophic for the livelihoods of many fishermen and coastal communities all around the Baltic Sea. We must urgently act to rebuild the stock – in the interest of fish and fishermen alike. That means responding rapidly to an immediate threat now, through the emergency measures the commission is taking. But it also means managing the stock – and the habitat it lives in – properly in the long term,” E.U. Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs, and Fisheries Karmenu Vella.

Read the full story at Seafood Source